In the Eyes of the Rangers, an Easy Target
by 0157H7 on Apr 3, 2011 11:02 PM EDT
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PrintLet's say you had to design a team to beat the 2011 Red Sox in a short series. Obviously you'd want some solid southpaw starters, to punish the team for fielding so many lefthanded batters (or force them to play more marginal righties like Darnell MacDonald). You should have a strong bullpen, with a young flamethrowing closer, to shut the door. You'd definitely need a top four offense, maybe one fresh off a World Series win. And it certainly wouldn't hurt if the Sox starters and relievers left a bunch of pitches over the heart of the plate to your sluggers. Throw in home-field advantage and some luck, and you have an easy three game sweep.
If any of this sounds familiar, it's because you just watched the disappointing weekend series against Texas. The beating Texas delivered was almost scripted, from balls glancing off gloves (Adrian, game 3) and missed catches (Ellsbury, game 2) right down to a player they own (John Lackey) being second out the gate when he probably is our third or fourth best pitcher. You can do all the analysis you want, make whatever excuses you like, but when it comes down to it, the team that played better won, and that team was Texas.
None of us wanted to see this. We wanted, nay expected our $170+ million squad to walk all over Texas, even though it was at their ballpark, and even though they have a good team in their own right. So there will be blood in Boston, there will be anger and vituperation clogging the airwaves and blogosphere, denunciations of Saltalamacchia and our hitless shortstops, and second-guessing of Theo's Evil Empire 2.0 strategy.
So it was disheartening, but there's plenty of cause for optimism. First, the Sox are heading next to Cleveland, who haven't sniffed the playoffs, let alone finished above .500, since 2007, then they start a 10-game stretch at home (albeit against such lightweights as the Yankees and Rays). Second, it's only three games in. Maybe the Sox haven't lost the first three games since 1996, but there's still another 159 to play. Third, we do have an excellent, $170 million team, that almost everyone in baseball's chattering classes picked to win the division. Fourth, Ortiz is looking better than in previous Aprils, with two homers in two games, right out of the gate.
It's way too soon to make any judgments about the season. Three games isn't enough of a sample to determine anything about 2011.
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They did have a World Series win.
Just the one, though.
Over the Monster -- SB Nation's Resident Red Sox Site
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Apr 3, 2011 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Still picked to win the division....
by many. I doubt getting swept on the road by the reigning AL champs is going to change that. Ça fait rien.
I’ll sacrifice a live chicken if I have to, but I think I’ll hold off for a while.
"People ask what I do in the Winter when there is no baseball. I stare out the window and wait for Spring." -- Rogers Horsby
This is what happens...
… when dickwad sportswriting hacks sports journalists make you the fashionable pick to do anything. I’d refer to them as sports journalists, but that would be an insult to…
… wait a seconds Screw journalists!
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 4, 2011 12:06 AM EDT reply actions
Not worried
I think the Rangers are really not being given fair credit by anyone for this series. They are REALLY talented, and their statement that they’re not going to shrink away after last year’s run just happened to come against the Sox. The Sox will find their way going forward and be just fine. I expect next time the two teams play (late august) it will be much more competitive.
by The Burning Scheyer Jersey on Apr 4, 2011 12:27 AM EDT reply actions
meh
No team is going to go an entire season without at least one 3-game losing streak. Ours just happened to come right out the gate and took some impressive play from a great Texas team, not to mention some disappointing play from our end, to happen.
Lester always starts out slow and a couple of the long balls he gave up were on balls that most hitters couldn’t get out of the infield (the exception being Kinsler’s blast). Lackey looked pretty terrible in his start, which is troubling, but I didn’t expect much with their offense hitting like they were. Buchholz, if you take away the home runs he gave up, only allowed one hit in his 6 1/3 innings. He won’t get behind batters that frequently in every start and actually turned in what I would consider an encouraging start (aside from the results). As far as the offense, Crawford isn’t going to go 0-4 with 3 strikeouts and 5 left on base like he did in game one on a regular basis and it’s only a matter of time before Pedey and the rest of the guys turn it on. Much like with Buchholz, the offense actually was encouraging from an overall standpoint, in my opinion. Papi contributed nice and early, A-Gonz looked great even away from Fenway, Ellsbury was tremendous after being challenged by Francona in regards to hitting leadoff…I’m looking forward to seeing how hard we take it to Cleveland after getting handled in Texas and having a day off for all the players to think (and hear/read) about all this disappointment from everyone around baseball. If Beckett and Dice-K come out and turn in some quality starts everyone will be singing a severly different tune come next week.
In 1979, he hit his first career home run...four years before his birth. He once swung at a pitch and missed, just to see how it felt. He is the only player in history to record more hits than plate appearances. He is, the most talented man in baseball.
"I don't always swing, but when I do, I produce lasers."
Dustin Pedroia, 250% strength by volume. Please pitch responsibly.
I'm not worried...
…but I’ll be damned if I don’t have some of that old anxiety starting to twinge in there. I mean the brain says it’s only Game 3, but I still can’t deny that it’s there.
Bloggy needs a @#$%ing beatdown to make him feel better.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
WORRY a lot
This lackadaisical “don’t worry, we will be all right” is what cost them last year.
Dig a hole at the start; never get out.
The team lacks fire, lacks heart.
I can't follow this reasoning at all
“The team lacks fire, lacks heart.” Based on what? Youkilis, A-Gon and Papi each had some pretty decent games in this series, it was just lost in the cloud our pitchers’ performances. Home runs are always a killer, but that was a stacked Texas lineup and Arlington is a home run hitters haven. Even given the home run trouble, Lester and Buchholz weren’t pitching out and out awful. They didn’t put too many men on, just got burned on some bad pitches. Bard and Lackey were more unnerving, certainly.
Still lacking heart? How? Because they lost a series against one the AL’s Best teams? That doesn’t make sense.
Last season they were .5 out on the third of July, so for all the trouble they had in April, they weren’t out of the race by any means until Pedey and Youk went down (along with anyone who owned a catcher’s mitt for a time as well). The early losses hurt, but they weren’t in huge hole by the All-Star break.
Three losses to start the season sucks. No doubt. Still, this was a road series against a great team and except for the third game, we hit pretty well. It is interesting how well Texas is matched against us (strong lefty pitching, solid bullpen, balanced power hitting and good infield defense), but this SSS pure and simple. We are a better team than this.
- Matt Sullivan
"I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world." Bill "Spaceman" Lee
www.overthemonster.com
www.spacemanspancakes.wordpress.com
Agreed
This was the first series against a team that has a 8th batter that hit over 20 homers last year (Napoli)……I wasnt surprised at all that the Sox pitchers gave up those homers in the first series, against that type of lineup, in that park. At least the offense looked okay and the pitchers limited how many men were on base for those homers.
You should be surprised about all the HR
When a team hits 11 HR in 3 games, there’s a large degree of luck involved.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Agree
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions
This
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
formerly patriotguy2 ;)
lies, damn lies and statistics
Teams can change year to year, or even month to month
and you can start bad without being locked in
of course, I hope for the best
But I think you are kidding yourself if you do not recognize the lack of focus, the over confidence, that afflicted the Red Sox last year at the start — long before the injuries. There was no driving sense of purpose. No determination.
Last year, the worst offender, in my view, may have been Jon Lester, the Red Sox best player.
We’ll see what they do this year. I hope the team does better. Pedroia and Youk are firey. We’ll see who else.
by Frank Malzone on Apr 5, 2011 6:40 AM EDT up reply actions
How do you know there is no "driving sense of purpose" or "no determination"?
Do you hang out in the clubhouse with them? You can’t speculate on things like this and state it as if it’s a fact. I mean you can, but it makes you look like an idiot (no offense intended, really, that’s just genuinely what the comment looks like to me, not saying you actually are an idiot). What you see on NESN is a very small glimpse at the players and doesn’t really tell you a whole lot about their attitudes. What did Lester do that made him look like such a terrible offender?
You beat me to it, wolf
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 5, 2011 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
early in the year
Lester was not paying attention last year
Lester is one of my favorite players. I think he is a nice guy. And I trust him in the clutch to put out his best effort, even if he does not always win. Usually only gets psyched out when he goes home to Seattle.
But he pissed me off last April and May because he did not pay enough attention.
And I think the attitude was pervasive on the team.
I watch a lot of games. Maybe 100 per year. I see snippets of interviews after the games.
But mostly I base my opinion on body language in the games, errors of judgment, etc.
Just my opinions.
But, God help you, if you go back and watch Jon Lester’s games from April and May, I think you will see.
As for your insults, whatever.
by Frank Malzone on Apr 5, 2011 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m pretty sure what cost them last year was Youk, Pedey, VMart, Tek, Beckett, Dice, Cameron, Ellsbury, Scoot, Lowrie all missing significant time on the disabled list.
What is the difference between a three game losing streak from April 1-3 to one from July 19-22? The answer is absolutely nothing.
Welcome back NG.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Was Scoot on the DL at all?
I know what you mean though.
))<>((
by German Red Sox Fan on Apr 4, 2011 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah he wasn't on the DL at all
But he only played like half a scoot for more of the season.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Of course Malzone is not NG
but he has always been of the NG/75Bandwagon variety poster…:)
Rec'd
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions
A few of very SSS trends I find a little concerning
1. In a fanpost a while back I made a joke about Crawford being a platoon player. Watching his at bats against lefties this series (just watched game 1 and 3) that joke might not be that far from the truth. not the 1 for 9 or what it was is concerning its the way he hacks. That were some of the ugliest at bats I’ve ever seen. He had almost zero pitch recognition, he was just swinging the bat through the zone and somehow magically hoped that the pitch is a fastball. This approach obviously cant be succesfull at the majors. I was very happy to see him bat 7 against LHP allready.
2. Salty. Oh boy. You guys know I’m not huge on him at all and i give him some time to prove himself, but his at bats are simply awful. Please Salty prove me wrong.
3. With current Salty and Crawford + nothing from SS sofar: Our bottom of the order looks very weak right now. I hope that will change.
))<>((
by German Red Sox Fan on Apr 4, 2011 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
Crawford looked terrible in games 1 and 2
not really so much in 3, I didn’t think- admittedly that first hit was a huge stroke of luck. In any case, while he’s not good against lefties, he also certainly isn’t that bad. As you said, SSS, I wouldn’t be terribly worried about that yet. Obviously Scutaro isn’t going to continue to be absolutely no offense. Salty, who knows.
Is it just me
Or does Salty look pretty good behind the plate so far?
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions
haven't seen anything terribly ugly
obviously not good results so far, but I’d love if he could do it.
Lets be honest a .697 OPS from a LF?
Is that even replacement level? Just offensively speaking.
))<>((
by German Red Sox Fan on Apr 4, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
good luck w/ Salty...there's a reason Texas got rid of him
I am coming for you, Mark Lowe.
You’d better run, because there will be more with me.
I WILL DESTROY YOU MARK LOWE. ---LSJ 3/24
I'm not holding out much hope for Salty
But that’s not because the Rangers gave up on him. Texas also gave up on Adrian Gonzalez.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
April is Irrelevent
October is the goal.
However if we look like poo against Cleveland then I’ll be freaking out…
A-Gon Will Be MVP
by sonicdeathmonkey on Apr 4, 2011 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
All games count
However, over a long 162-game season all teams hit rough patches. You can’t asses a season based on one month of results, let alone 3 games.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Losing to Cleveland Though...
Will look really bad considering they’re picked to be one of the worst teams in baseball this year. I don’t think we will, but that would be more of an indictment on the Red Sox then losing to a Ranger team in Arlington will.
A-Gon Will Be MVP
by sonicdeathmonkey on Apr 4, 2011 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions
If you take away the four homers.......
Bucholtz gave up, then he only gave up one hit in 6 1/3 innings!! WTF!! If you took away John Wilkes Booth, it would have been a really good play!
repeat after me
Buchholz B-U-C-H-H-O-L-Z. Two H’s, no T.
How long has he been on the Red Sox? How the hell is it that everyone has figured out how to spell Saltalamacchia but everyone thinks there is a T in Buchholz’ name?
4 HR in one game
That sounds more like Bucholtz than Buchholz.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Apr 4, 2011 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Oriole's are undefeated
They’re going 162-0!
by South Coast Ghost on Apr 4, 2011 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions
11 Homers is continuing a trend
That the Sox pitchers exhibited in the last two weeks of ST when they should have been stretching themselves out for league play. Unfortunately we have yet to see Beckett or Dice-K pitch yet. The O was ok, but there is nothing the 8 defenders can do if balls keeps carrying like they did in Fla and Tex. To put this in perspective, Lester gave up 3 gofers on Friday but gave up only 15 all last season, in fact it was the worst game he has ever had as far as dingers, Bucholz gave up 4, after only 9 last year, and Lackey delivered 1/9 of last years total. The pen added two.
Whatever new pitching regimen is being used clearly isn’t working, because as of this weekend, Sox pitching, in terms of readiness, was still in the early weeks of spring training.
I don’t know. That Buchholz gave up only 5 hits was a very good sign to me. That 4 of them left the park I think falls more under the category of bizarre than a poor ST regimen.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
by Rogue Nine on Apr 4, 2011 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This one Red Sox squad
was swept 4 times
at Seattle
at Detroit
at New York
at Toronto
During one point of the season they went 8-13 over the course of 21 games
Oh, and of course they won 96 games and the 2007 World Series
And the Pirates may very well be 3-1 by the end of the day
These things tend to work themselves out.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Meh
Lester starts slow.
Lackey just hates us.
Buchholtz got burned on almost every single one of his mistakes.
We ran into a pissed off team that is coming out of the gates red hot and they whipped our asses pretty well. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again.
Buchholz, Buchholz
sorry I’m going to keep up on this until I stat seeing his name with no “T” in it.
I like to point out guys
I listened to the radio yesterday, and they mentioned some key points:
A-Rod was not very good his first month at all with the yankees, and he got 40 home runs and became an all star.
Giambi was not very good at all his first month with the yankees, and he got 40 runs, and became an all star.
they mentioned two more other guys. But the point is, it may take time for them to gel up.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
formerly patriotguy2 ;)
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